Just mix a tot of skill with showmanship

They are designed to leave you shaken and stirred - and cocktails are now a definite part of the festive celebrations. But how do you tell your Singapore Sling from your Last Mango in Paris? Angela Kelly investigates

BEFORE Manchester began its enduring love affair with cocktails, these enjoyable hybrid drinks lived mainly in the city's hotel bars.

As freelance food and drink journalist Russ Otterwell, pictured below, explains: "After the arrival of the first café bars such as Atlas and Dry 201, the scene began to grow with cocktails bars like Barca in Castlefield and Johnsons on Deansgate."

Just before this time, the city's Gay Village played a significant part with Manto leading the way, winning City Life bar of the year titles in 1992 and 1993.

"Serious cocktails moved into the restaurants with the opening of venues like Reform," adds Russ. "Zinc Bar And Grill, Terence Conran's first restaurant outside London, arrived in 2000, Restaurant Bar And Grill the year after and since then the explosion in Manchester bars has continued apace.

"Personalities developed and soon mixologists such as Jamie Stephenson were being head-hunted to open new, high-end bars. Young bartenders worked their way up through the ranks, joining the teams at high-profile ventures like Sugar Lounge."

Then, cocktails bars developed into chains, such as Living Room. And mixologists, as this new breed of bartenders were now named, started to open their own bars - "leading examples being Ian Morgan and Beau Myers who opened Socio Rehab a couple of years ago, swiftly followed by Rodeo."

New levels of luxury were reached with the opening of venues like Panacea reflecting the standing of the cocktails scene in the city's nightlife. As for what makes a good cocktail, Russ is definite: "Top quality ice is essential to a good cocktail - and this is often overlooked. It should not dilute the drink."

The making of a top mixologist is equally straightforward in his book; "Confidence and showmanship - there's a fine line between being confident in your skills and arrogance, though.

"A serious mixologist needs to be able to balance and contrast flavours, and they need experience, of course."

And trends are changing even in the cocktails world and not always as you expect, as Russ points out.

"As somewhat of a beer purist, I find it a little difficult to understand why some bartenders are starting to develop beer cocktails.

"Indeed, it's a growing trend but why mess with something that is so, hopefully, wonderfully crafted?" he says.

Even this kind of mixing, though, can be fun. As he says: "Cusquena is a super premium lager imported from Peru by locally-based company Chilli Marketing.

"They have just introduced a dark Cusquena beer on to the market - dark beers are becoming increasingly popular and are tipped to continue the trend in 2007."

Russ recommends mixing a shot of pure orange juice into a glass of dark beer for a Bee Sting, or make that a shot of Kahlua and you have a Caribbean Night.

"Winter cocktails are also great fun," he says. "Current favourites include South East Asian-inspired creations using chilli and lemongrass."